[Podcourse] Changing the Lens: Assessing Autism Through a Neuro Strengths-Based Perspective

In this podcourse episode, we feature Staci Neustadt of Making Sense of Autism to discuss Staci’s framework and tools—the Strengths, Stressors, and Supports Profile and a Soft Skills Assessment—which use a holistic, criterion-referenced approach emphasizing how autistic individuals learn, their strengths and emerging strengths, barriers, triggers, and “unready” skills rather than deficit language. Staci shares clinical examples showing how reframing behaviors as communication, supporting regulation, predictability, shared control, and self-advocacy can shift goal writing, motivation, and outcomes, while still allowing standardized testing to be interpreted through a neuro-affirming lens.

In this podcourse episode, we are joined by Tasha Wisehart to talk about dyslexia in an SLP-led podcourse covering definitions, common characteristics, evidence-based supports, and the Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach and associate-level certification. Tasha, an SLP with 20+ years’ experience and OG associate certification, works at the Schenck School in Atlanta, a remediation day school where students attend for 2–3 years for intensive OG-based instruction.She describes dyslexia as a neurobiological, language-based learning disability marked by weak word recognition, spelling, and phonological skills despite average cognitive abilities, and notes possible comorbidities including DLD, ADHD, articulation, and phonological disorders. From an SLP lens, students may show phonological awareness and rapid naming weaknesses, word-finding delays, vocabulary and comprehension gaps, and morphology/syntax impacts. Supports discussed include Scarborough’s Reading Rope, vocabulary and narrative work, orthographic mapping with speech-sound awareness, phonemic manipulation, and classroom carryover; resources include IDA’s updated dyslexia definition, Literacy How, Reading Rockets, FCRR, and AOGPE.

In this podcourse, we are joined by Kendal Martes, a Speech Language-Pathologist on Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Kendal defines DLD as a common neurodevelopmental language disorder that affects spoken language processing/production and can impact academics, literacy, and social relationships, yet is often missed or mislabeled; DLD co-occurs with dyslexia about 50% of the time and with ADHD up to 75%. She outlines comprehensive evaluation components including case history, teacher/family input on functional impact, and standardized assessment with attention to subtests (e.g., TILLS), plus literacy measures (CTOPP, TOWRE, spelling, GORT). Using the Simple View of Reading, she explains how DLD relates to language comprehension and dyslexia to decoding, and recommends addressing both simultaneously. Strategies include improved screening, collaboration with educators, explicit intervention for vocabulary, syntax, narratives, and inferencing, and increased DLD awareness; she notes screeners like LanguageScreen and the free CUBED.

In this podcourse, we are joined by Rochel Lieberman, PhD, CCC-SLP, the founder and owner of WholeStory Speech, a private practice in Brooklyn, New York, serving children with social-emotional challenges, co-treating their parents as an integral part of her work. She is the creator of the WholeStory Approach and a researcher in Story Emotion Social Therapy (SEST), an approach that uses wholesome storytelling to support mindful language and social communication.We explore the WholeStory framework and how storytelling can support regulation, connection, and social communication in children with social-emotional needs. Participants learn how Story Emotion Social Therapy (SEST) integrates speech-language therapy and mental health principles, and provides practical strategies to support families in using storytelling in daily life to strengthen social communication across real-world experiences.

In this podcourse, I interview Rachel Zukose, an ASHA-certified SLP in New York who works in a special-needs school and a medical private practice, about advocacy in action for AAC/assistive technology across school, therapy, and home.Rachel shares cases of school pushback (refusing AAC evals, IEP resistance, and cell phone bans), contrasts smoother adult AAC experiences, and highlights barriers such as parent concerns, lack of team carryover, charging, and limited device knowledge. Strategies include team-wide shared Google Docs for programming requests, parent/staff trainings, low-tech backups, consistent modeling, home “base” locations for devices, leveraging IDEA and state law, using insurance when needed, and providing advocacy resources and templates.

This episode is the third annual SLP Business Connect event joined by panelists Elise Mitchell (school contracting/Therapist Support Network), Marcia Church (private practice/Speech Stars Branding), Calonda Henry (Broad Horizon Speech Therapy/Certified Practice), Sarah Breshears (Social Moguls), and Isabelle De Castro (mobile SLP/Private Practice Connection). The panel discusses overcoming fear and imposter syndrome (mindset shifts, serving the client, accountability), handling legal/financial mistakes with transparency and professional help, and building confidence in promoting services. They also cover legal basics for starting (PLLC/LLC, EIN, NPI 1/2, insurance, business address), when to use lawyers/accountants, contracts/policies for schools and private practice, time management and burnout prevention (boundaries, calendars, phone focus modes), marketing without being on camera, building steady referrals (social media, networking, Google Business Profile), setting rates and insurance vs private pay considerations, choosing business models, and a 30-day startup roadmap.

In this Literacy Connect podcourse, we feature Dr. Denae Lawson’s presentation on evidence-based small-group literacy instruction, differentiation, support for emergent literacy and at-risk populations, and strategies for bilingual/multilingual learners. Denae, a K–2 reading specialist and former literacy interventionist, explains science of reading practices including word mapping (Elkonin boxes), heart words for high-frequency words, oral blending and segmenting, and the importance of spelling. She outlines a 20-minute small-group routine (fluency, blending, segmenting/encoding, student-centered decodable reading, and writing response) with strong management, seating, and accountability. Denae also describes differentiating by tier, prioritizing quality over quantity and maintaining grade-level exposure, and recommends relationship-building, background knowledge/vocabulary development, book access, and home supports like captions.

In this Literacy Connect podcourse, we interview Speech-Language Pathologist Megan Stewart, who has over 20 years experience supporting students with complex communication needs and runs Sensible Literacy. Megan shares ways to incorporate literacy daily (varied opportunities, letter hunts, sound/word games, captions) and explains AAC types and how to adapt activities. She also discusses book characteristics that support language, then reviews AI and assistive technology tools (Canva, Microsoft Reading Coach/Copilot, Tar Heel Reader, text-to-speech, Bookshare, Learning Ally, screen readers, scan pens, page fluffers, overlays) and key resources like Project Core.

In this Literacy Connect podcourse, we are joined by Leanne Dall’s, an ASHA- and EBLI-certified pediatric SLP, as she explains the reciprocal relationship between oral and written language, noting literacy can strengthen phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and metalinguistic skills, and that children with developmental language disorder or speech sound disorders are at risk for reading and writing difficulties. She outlines structured linguistic literacy principles (letters spell sounds; sounds can be spelled with 1–4 letters; multiple spellings per sound; spellings can have multiple pronunciations), links benefits to cognitive load theory, and shares practical ways to incorporate print into sessions, including using letters for phonemic awareness and speech-sound work and integrating curriculum-based disciplinary literacy tasks.

In this Literacy Connect podcourse, we interview Britney Morrish, founder of the Language and Literacy Clinic of Manitoba, about “The ABCs of Assessment” for language and literacy evaluations, including dyslexia.Britnney discusses concerns that schools identify only about 18% of students with developmental language disorder due to limited systematic language screening, contrasts balanced literacy/3-cueing with structured literacy, and reviews using multiple tools (favoring TILLS over CELF for sensitivity/specificity). She describes a quadrant model differentiating dyslexia and DLD (often co-occurring), accommodations like audiobooks and text-to-speech/speech-to-text, and integrating assessment data into intervention using diagnostic screeners, UFLI scope and sequence, and interleaved practice.